


I will soar when I am here with you

by paradox_of_retaliation



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Devotion, Familiars, Friendship/Love, Gen, Injury, Life Partners, POV Animal, Ravens, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-08 04:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21229724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paradox_of_retaliation/pseuds/paradox_of_retaliation
Summary: The raven will return to its human no matter what.





	I will soar when I am here with you

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've taken part in one of these collections! This is a little different from my usual style and I enjoyed it a lot, I hope you do too. :)

An old raven flies above the dark forest, a tiny lantern hanging from its beak with a candle burning softly inside it, lighting its way. It is clutching a small rolled-up piece of parchment in its sharp talons, careful not to drop it down into the darkness but also mindful not to rip it and cause its recipient distress.

The raven's eyes flicker around the sky rapidly, noting the sickle shape of the moon barely visible behind dark clouds. A predator could be lurking anywhere in the darkness, watching it fly, waiting for it to drop its guard for long enough to swoop in and snatch it right out of the sky. It wouldn't know what hit it, and the precious little scroll it was carrying would be lost forever in the middle of the untamed forest.

The raven couldn't let that happen. _He_ would be sad if it didn't succeed. The raven feared making him sad more than death.

A sudden movement above catches its eye. Something just flew past the moon. The raven feels nervous.

Nothing happens. It's quiet. The raven listens harder. A barely-there sound of big, strong wings gliding in the sky somewhere in the darkness reaches its ears. Much bigger and undeniably much stronger than its own.

An owl. Or maybe even a hawk. Doesn't matter. Whatever it is, it's hunting and the lantern has alerted it to the raven's presence in the sky with it.

The raven curses him for insisting it carry the drafted lantern with it. It contemplates dropping the lantern in hopes of maybe tricking the big bird, but it knows it would only make its own predicament worse. Its sight is not as it used to be in its youth, and seeing in the dark has become more and more difficult; it wouldn't be able to escape without the lantern's guiding light.

There's only one option: flying faster than the big bird. Now the raven hopes it's not an owl. A hawk it could easily lose, those bastards are almost as blind as it itself is at night. An owl on the other hand...that would be more of a nuisance.

The raven braces itself, its small muscles flexing in preparation. Home isn't much further now. It isn't going to let him down.

His first words to it all those years ago had been those of awed praise at its speed. According to him he had never seen any bird zip through the skies as fast as it did. It preens at the memory. It is his sky racer and nothing can catch it.

The raven puffs its chest, tightens its hold on the lantern's metallic handle, and quickly plunges into the tree line. Chances of making it will be much higher in the dense forest. Its smaller size will give it advantage zipping past the trees whereas the big bird will struggle with not hitting anything while still keeping the raven in its sights.

Unfortunately, the big bird had apparently been much closer than the raven had expected, and just as it's about to swoop under a thick spruce branch, it feels a sharp talon nick its back and a terrifying screech fills the air.

An owl, then. Fantastic.

The raven zips quickly to the left, successfully evading the owl's talons this time and causing it to hit a branch in surprise. That was too close. It can feel the wound on its back throbbing painfully and slowly oozing blood between its feathers, but it can't stop to take a look at it; it can just hope it's not as bad as it feels. 

He's going to be mad when he sees the blood. The raven shakes its head. No time for that now. Focus!

The owl has fallen silent again, but the raven doesn't doubt for a second that it's still chasing it. The scuffling sounds behind it whenever it does a sudden turn are a big enough hint that the owl is very fast and _very_ close, but not smart enough to predict the raven's movements and stop itself from flying into branches.

Deciding it has had enough of getting chased like a lowly rodent, and fearing its wound will start affecting it soon, the raven decides to put some much needed distance between it and its pursuer. It starts flapping its wings rapidly, pushing itself forward faster and faster until the noises of the owl struggling in the density of the trees sound much further away.

The raven relaxes. Nothing to fear now.

Too distracted by its relief, the raven doesn't notice the figure flying straight at it from the right until it's being illuminated by the lantern. The raven's heartbeat spikes, but it barely has the time to realise what is happening before a sharp pain is bursting in its side and right wing. The lantern falls out of its beak as it croaks in pain, and it plummets down towards the forest floor. Another loud screech, this one higher than the previous one, rings in the night.

The raven's head is spinning and it can't see properly. Another owl. In a split second a thousand thoughts flash through its mind. How could it have been so stupid to drop its guard like that? It knows these woods are swarming with these bastards. It hadn't stopped to think that it would be bringing itself right down to their nests by deciding to fly in the forest.

The talons squeeze it so tightly it thinks the owl might crush its wing. That makes the raven panic. If its wing breaks, it can't fly. That means it can't escape. It'll die. It won't be able to get home.

It won't get back to him.

The raven becomes aware of the piece of parchment still in its talons. In its pain it had punctured one of them through it. A fortune, perhaps, as otherwise it would have probably shared the lantern's fate. It couldn't lose it; he had told it this parchment was important, that it needed to make sure it would get to him.

_"But you will always return to me, won't you? So I don't have to worry,"_ he had said. It can still feel the way he had stroked its head right before stretching out his arm and sending it on its way. The ghost of the gentle touch warms it, helping it forget the pain for a moment and clear its mind.

It can't die like this. It needs to, no, it _wants_ to get home. It doesn't want him to have to mourn over it.

It flicks its eyes up to its captor. The owl probably thinks it's dead; in its shock it hadn't struggled at all. Good, that gives it a slightly better chance at escape.

The raven looks around. From what it can see, the part of the forest they're flying through now feels familiar. It must be close to home! Its heart rate picks up in hope. That means it wouldn't have to fly for long. Even in its badly injured state it is certain it could survive such a short flight. It only needs to stay alive until it can see his house, then it'll be safe.

It wracks its head for ways to get the owl to let go. Struggling might surprise it into loosening its grip, but it would also most definitely cause more damage. More damage that the raven can't afford if it wants to be still able to fly after.

Making noise might work. But what would scare a giant owl? A human? The raven thinks of his voice, but it doesn't think imitating his soft words would scare even the most timid of mice, let alone a bird of prey. He has never raised his voice at it, and it doesn't know any other...scarier, humans to possibly imitate.

What else? Think, think. Owls are at the top of the food chain, so what could possibly-

Suddenly it dawns on the raven. What do owls share that top spot with? Other owls!

The raven inhales its lungs as full as it possibly can without causing itself too much more pain in the owl's sharp grip, and lets out a loud screech, imitating the first owl that had attacked it.

The owl screeches in shock, hold going lax, and falters in its flight as it franctically tries to get its eyes on the source of the noise. The raven repeats the screech even louder, its vocal cords screaming at it to stop abusing them. But it has the desired effect; in its fright the owl drops it.

Panic and relief are swirling inside the raven. It is falling out of the sky half-blind, but at least it is free now. It shakes its wings, flexing the right one, and to its ever-mounting relief realises it can still carry.

It rights itself in the air with a tentative flick of its wings and puts an end to its fall. The pain is excruciating, but the raven tries to ignore it and focuses all of its attention on reorienting itself and finding the correct direction to fly. As soon as it does, it strains its wings to their limit and flaps them as hard as it physically can, desperate to gain more speed, because it can hear the owl picking up chase behind it as it realises no imminent threat is actually nearby and its prey has simply tricked it.

Fortunately for the raven, it had been right in thinking it was close to home, as soon the trees start to thin out until it and its pursuer burst out of the forest and into a very familiar clearing. It can see the small wooden house in the middle of the swamp, and knows refuge is near.

Its vocal cords still feel painfully raw from imitating the owl screech, but it pushes that aside and puts all its effort into imitating the first human word he had ever taught it.

"SEB!"

The door of the house flings open almost immediately. The dark figure that rushes out onto the porch is backlit by the light spilling out of the open door to the point that the raven can't make out its face, but it knows it's him. It would recognise him anywhere, even if it went fully blind.

"Kimi! What are you..." His words trail off. He must have noticed the owl. "Kimi, duck!" he then yells.

Kimi does as it is told, and swoops down towards the ground. It hears something zip over its head, feels the heat of it through its feathers on its skin. Then there is an ear piercing pained screech, and a quick look shows the owl hurtling towards the murky waters below in a flurry of feathers and what looks like blood spraying from its chest.

Kimi lets out a croak in relief. Finally it's over. There's no danger anymore. It got back to him.

The last of the adrenaline that helped it keep going ebbs away and its wings are dead-tired; it doesn't think it can stay in the air much longer. It feels its conciousness faltering. One second it is gliding through the air, the next it is falling, but too weak to do anything about it.

It expects a harsh landing in the water or even on a hummock - it knows from experience that swamp hummocks are not soft like their forest counterparts - but instead two gentle hands pluck it out of the air. It makes a weak sound in pain as the hold jostles its still-bleeding wounds and injured wing, but the owner of the hands only shushes it softly before stroking its head comfortingly.

_Seb._ It's him. He saved it. He caught it. Seb. Safe.

Kimi feels its consciousness slip. Its eyes slide closed and breathing feels laborious. Maybe something inside it is broken and has hurt its lung. It doesn't know, and it doesn't have time to find out as its head spins more violently now.

Then it hears his voice. He sounds terrified.

"Fuck, no, no, stay awake! Kimi! Please, no, you can't- you can't die like this! Not now! Not when I was finally..."

Kimi can't hear any more. Fin...ally? The hands holding it tremble.

Suddenly it feels like it's falling again. Then nothing.

~*~

Soft.

That is the first thing Kimi becomes aware of. It's lying on something soft. 

It's body feels...odd. Both achy and good at the same time. It tries to move, but manages only a twitch. So weak.

His hawk eyes must of course notice even this non-existent movement, because Kimi can suddenly hear scrambling footsteps and flinches at the sound of something dropping on the floor with a loud clang.

"Kimi..." Kimi can't see him, but it can feel him hovering next to it, feel the relief radiating off of him. "Thank fuck, I was... I thought you were dead." 

A trembling hand settles on its head and a pleasant warmth spreads down its entire body, soothing its aches and pains. Kimi manages to open its beak and croaks quietly, grateful for the help.

"Anything for you," he replies fondly.

Kimi is distinctly aware of when he allows all his love and care to pour into the touch now that he knows it is conscious and able to handle it, because it makes it feel like a young fledgling again; ready to take on the world no matter what it decides to throw at it.

It knows no hopping the nest will be happening any time soon though, especially as it is able to now feel its right wing is snuggly wrapped against its side. It'll stick to opening its eyes for now. His smile is the first thing that greets it.

"Hey there."

Kimi blinks in acknowledgment. _Hey._

"...Feel any different?"

Kimi cocks his head curiously. He had something to do with the odd feeling? It croaks affirmatively. _Yes, I feel different._

The smile on his face widens. He looks overjoyed. "That parchment I sent you to find... Do you know what was on it?" he asks.

Kimi gives him an unimpressed look. _Do I_ look _like I can read what you humans scribble on your papers?_

He chuckles, "I could teach you, you know..."

Kimi croaks impatiently. _Just tell me!_

"It was a recipe," he says, sounding proud of himself, "I've been searching for it since the day I met you."

Kimi clicks its beak. _Go on._

"You've...noticed I don't age, right?"

Another unimpressed look. _I'm not stupid, I'm not a songbird._

He snorts. "Of course you're not, how silly of me." He leans closer to bring his head level with Kimi's smaller one, face now serious. "But do you know _why_ I don't age?"

Kimi thinks for a moment. A croak. _I don't._

"I'm immortal," he whispers, like he's afraid of someone else hearing. "I don't age..._can't_ age." He swallows. "I-I can't die."

Kimi's beak opens, but only a pathetic cough comes out. _Can't...die?_

"Yeah." The look on his face is unreadable. "And I...knew _you_ were going to. One day. But I thought it wouldn't be for a long time, I thought I wouldn't have to worry yet... Until your eyes started getting worse."

Kimi shifts uncomfortably. It doesn't like being reminded of its eyes failing it; being reminded of how vulnerable it has become.

"I realised the moment we met I couldn't let you die, because I...I didn't want to be alone anymore. Not when I'd found something so precious." He strokes Kimi's head with his thumb and smiles when Kimi leans into it. "And you were getting old, I could feel it. It's always the same: the eyes go first, and then everything else starts to slowly follow...until I have to say goodbye again."

Kimi pecks his arm with its beak and croaks. _Not so old yet._

He smiles wider, cocking his head. "Of course not..."

A croak. _So what was on the parchment? A spell to make me feel young again?_

"Oh...well, not exactly..."

Another croak. _What then?_

He seems nervous. Kimi doesn't understand why. A magic trick to give it more energy isn't a bad thing no matter which way it looks at it.

"It was a recipe for a potion that would make you like me. Immortal."

Ah. Kimi sees now what the issue is.

"And I was going to talk to you about this before!" he hurries to explain, "Talk about what it would mean. And...hopefully you would have said yes and I would have given you the potion, and... Then we would have been together forever. But then..."

Kimi clicks its beak. _Today happened._

He deflates. "You were in a really bad way, none of the other potions I had were working... I had to do it. I'd rather have you alive and hate me for not giving you a choice than let you die without even..."

Kimi gives his arm another much harsher peck. _I wouldn't have gone without saying goodbye!_

"Ouch!"

Kimi unleashes a series of sharp croaks. _You deserved it! You honestly thought I would hate you? Or say no? You think I haven't been dreading the idea of having to leave you alone one day?! You're useless on your own, I knew I needed to stay here as long as I could to stop you from becoming a hermit!_

"No need to peck me, I get it..." he complains half-heartedly, obviously trying to distract Kimi from the tears gathering in his eyes.

Kimi shuffles forward on the soft surface, that it now realises is his favourite warm shirt, and rubs its beak gently against his mouth until he understands and gives the beak a kiss.

It croaks. _You really thought I wouldn't want this forever?_

"I know, I don't know what I was thinking," he jokes, carefully moving his hands so he can pick it up and hold it against his chest. "Who would spoil you and feed you frog eyes in the afterlife if you left me?"

Kimi perks up and lets out an excited croak. _I love frog eyes!_

He chuckles, "I know you do."

An impatient croak. _Give me some!_

"Ah-ah," he tuts, "Nicely."

Kimi opens its beak. "I love you," it says, perfectly imitating its favourite sentence of all the ones he has taught it.

The tears in his eyes finally spill over. Kimi watches the small, salty water droplets curiously and croons happily as he holds it even tighter.

"I was already going to give you a full jar of them because you almost died, no need to twist my arm even more!" he laughs wetly, wiping at his cheeks.

Kimi gives his chin a playful peck and croaks. _Say it back. Then frog eyes._

"So demanding..." He holds it up so they're eye-to-eye again. "Of course I love you too."

A croak. _Forever?_

He smiles and nods. "Now it's a fact, not just a wish." He gives Kimi's beak another kiss before setting it on his shoulder. "Now...about those frog eyes."

Kimi grips the shoulder gently with its talons as not to fall when he stands up, since it can't catch itself with only one wing. Though it has no doubts he would catch it if that were to happen. He has always caught it when it has needed it. Today is a perfect example.

A thought pops in its head. It croaks. _Next time find a potion that will make me big. Like a moose. Or a bear. Then I can catch you if you fall off your broom after you've had too much mead._

He laughs in surprise. "And give the owls a taste of their own medicine?"

Kimi puffs out its chest, croaking proudly. _I would eat them all!_

"I'll see what I can do," he says, chuckling as he picks out the jar of frog eyes from his shelf. "It might take some time."

Kimi nuzzles his head and croons. _No hurry, we have time now._

His smile softens. "Yeah...we have time." He holds out the first of many handfuls of frog eyes for Kimi and watches it start gobbling them up.

_All the time in the world. I wouldn't have it any other way_, Kimi thinks as it eats. It knows he can tell what it's thinking, it doesn't need to voice it.

Forever won't be so bad as long as it has him and frog eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me in the comments if I did a good job trying this different type of story!


End file.
